The Journey

The Lake Area Middle School students wrote two very detailed and thoughtful Declarations today! They took the entire process extremely seriously. I introduced the concept and then stepped back to let them start...and they immediately went up to the board and drew a concept map. I could tell Ms. Meredith was very proud of her students. The Declarations were well written, articulate, and informative...but the part of the day I found most interesting was listening to the discussions as the students worked on the Declaration. I heard some very insightful conversations. They debated everything from gang violence, to the effect of littering, to whether a crime was really a crime if it did not directly hurt someone, to the benefits and draw-backs of different teaching techniques and approaches.

Taylor helped me film the students for the documentary to send to their sister-school. And, a group of students took me on a tour of Lake Area Middle School... one student operated the camera...while the others described different parts of their school. They filmed everything (even the boys bathroom). I think the Mongolian students will really enjoy watching the Lake Area Middle School documentary.

One student (who is interested in film production) was our primary "documenter" for the day...he took great pictures and even conducted his own interview!

It was sad to leave the Lake Area Middle School! The Real History Youth Group in Ulanbaataar is lucky to have them as a sister-school!

Sincerely,
Jessica Rimington